Sydney Opera House

When you think of Sydney, you think of The Sydney Opera House, Right? 

When Dad and I went to Sydney we wanted to see as much of the Opera House as we could.  We started the day at The Opera Kitchen under the Opera House for breakfast.  And look at the view.

We quickly moved to a tour.  We had a great guide named Curly, my Dad's name is Larry, so all we were missing was Mo.  He really had neat and interesting information. 

The iconic Opera House design was a worldwide contest in the 1950's.  One of the judges arrived late, and demanded to review all of the entries that had been thrown out.  He found the only design that had the two halls side by side, and even though it broke many contest rules, he pulled it out.  This entry was only a drawing, and had no math behind it to ensure it would work.  The designer just got a paint brush and paper and painted what he felt.  His design of the shells was the winner.

This project was suppose to be completely finished in less than five years and only cost 6 million.  It took over ten years, and cost way over 100 million.  The cost was so high they ended up firing the designer as soon as the outside was finished.  He took all his plans, flew home, never to return to Australia to see his completed masterpiece that stared from the simple feeling he painted.  They had to find other designers to finish the inside without any of the original ideas.   

Not really sure why they were worried about money though, the Opera House was entirely funded through a lottery that was created to pay for the building.  

Inside is decorated only with concrete, glass, and beams.  They wanted it to always be in style and knew that styles in art always change.  

Did you know that The Opera House is not white?  Yeah, me neither.  It is white and yellow.  It is colored to help the reflection not blind you when you look at it.  Also, there is no grout in between the tiles.  The outside of the building is entirely self cleaning.

The building has never been cleaned.  The rain water goes in-between the tiles to help clean, and each tile has texture to help them clean off.

As soon as we finished our tour we found out there was a New Years Eve concert that night.  We also discovered that our tour ticket got us a discount on dinner at The Opera House and our tickets.  Even though we did not have clothes to really go to The Sydney Opera House, we decided, "Why Not?"

The concert was amazing.  They played every Opera song that you would recognize and had many Australian talents performing.

I had so much fun paying attention to the small detail at The Opera House.  It was amazing all the work that was put into building the magnificent building.

I would highly recommend to take The Opera House tour.  I would also recommend always packing at least one nice outfit in your bag.  I have always gone by this rule.  My grandmother took me to an opera when I was a kid, and I did not have the correct clothes.  It was a last minute trip, and we were quickly trying to grab me clothes.  I ended up wearing shoes, with rags in the toes.  I always, always, always pack at least one outfit after this trip as a kid.  I didn't pack until the last minute for our Sydney trip, and didn't grab a lot of things I usually pack.  Oh well!  We had fun, and made memories!  What is one rule you always have when you pack?

-EAT